As many as 98.04 per cent of the Rs 2000 banknotes which were in circulation as of May 19, 2023, have now been returned with the total value of such notes outside the banking system coming down to Rs 6970 crore at the close of business on October 31, 2024, according to an RBI update on Monday.

The total value of these banknotes in circulation was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, when the withdrawal of Rs 2000 banknotes was announced, which means less than 2 per cent of them are still in circulation.

The Rs 2000 banknotes continue to be legal tender.

The facility for the exchange of the Rs 2000 banknotes is available at the 19 Issue Offices of the Reserve Bank since May 19, 2023. From October 9, 2023, RBI Issue Offices are also accepting Rs 2000 banknotes from individuals /entities for deposit into their bank accounts. Further, members of the public are sending Rs 2000 banknotes through India Post from any post office within the country to any of the RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts, the official statement explained.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had announced the withdrawal of Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation on May 19, 2023. The status of withdrawal of Rs 2000 banknotes is periodically published by the RBI. The last press release in this regard was published on October 1, 2024. The facility for deposit or exchange of the Rs 2000 banknotes was available at all bank branches in the country up to October 7, 2023.

The Rs 2000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016 primarily with the objective of meeting the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes in circulation at that time. With the fulfilment of that objective and the availability of banknotes in other denominations in adequate quantities, the printing of Rs 2000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19.

A majority of the Rs 2000 banknotes were issued prior to March 2017 and were at the end of their estimated life span of 4-5 years. It was also observed that this denomination is not commonly used for transactions. Further, the stock of banknotes in other denominations was considered to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public.

In view of this and in pursuance of the ‘Clean Note Policy’ of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it has been decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 denomination banknote from circulation, the RBI had stated at the time of the withdrawal. The RBI’s clean note policy aims to ensure the availability of good quality banknotes to members of the public.